Happy Halloween

Almost another month has gone by and we have stayed active!  We were on our way home from New Mexico on my last update, and then we soon headed up to Washington Island Wisconsin.  We had another great time with Steve Janet and friends.  Like last year the weather was great the first day and we took in lots of spectacular color in the trees.  Then the rest of the weekend became cool and rainy.  Somehow that did not stop us from having lots of fun, food, and drinks.   Having the resort almost to ourselves lets us have some great meals in with everyone contributing.  The wind also added to some fun for some on the car ferry ride back though! 

Once we got back to Oshkosh we were busy packing and preparing the apartment for us to leave.   After a leisurely start on Monday October 21 we headed out on our fall trip.  We packed up the car, disconnected the battery on the car that was staying, and finished up the last of our preparations to leave before traveling 2.5 hours to New Glarus!  We love New Glarus, for Chris it started when she was a child and her Grandmother took her to this Swiss town.  For me it was when New Glarus Brewery started brewing their great beers.  We did make it to the brewery and spent some hours visiting local establishments in town.  And we did have a great Swiss meal.

The next morning was on the road to St Louis.  We had not visited old friends Bev and Wally for awhile and we spent a couple of nights with them catching up and revisiting old times.  We did have some more great beer and food, including Pappy’s in St Louis which the Food Network rated as the best BBQ in the country.  Of course we had the ribs, which they say they go through 6000 lbs per day!  They were awesome.

After a couple of nights and sad good byes we were back on the road, this time heading to Little Rock Arkansas.  We have had this destination on the list, Chris’s Dad was born there and we wanted to see what it was like and try to fill in some questions.  The family story was that Chris’s Grandparents and Father left Little Rock when a cross was burned on the neighbors lawn because they were Catholic.  We were not sure when.  I had not heard about the KKK targeting Catholics but when reading historical documents from the U of Arkansas I learned it was quite prevelant and in the 1920’s the State legislature passed a law allowing law enforcement to enter Catholic churches and rectories because they were sure the priests were holding nuns and lay women as sexual hostages.  The KKK was at a peak in the 1920’s against Catholic, Jews and immigrants: and today the KKK is on the rise in Arkansas against immigrants and people of color: go figure.  But we had a good trip to Little Rock.  We had a picture from Chris’s Grandmother of a church and procession that we had tried to find a location for years.  We thought it was Milwaukee.  But it was actually Little Rock, the church still looks the same and a genealogist at the library there placed the picture as probably in the 1920’s.   With some further help from the library we traced the grandparents addresses in city directories as still in Little Rock in 1923 and in Milwaukee in 1926.  And we now have a couple of new questions to follow up on.   Unfortunately we had some cool rainy weather and did not get around town as much as we had hoped.  But it was still a very interesting and fun time, and of course we found some great places to eat and drink!

After a couple of nights in Little Rock it was back to the road, this time to Tupelo Mississippi; which by the way is where Elvis was born.  Of course they have a tourist attraction at his birth home.   We visited and found it interesting.  We traveled in mostly rain again that day, and Tupelo had been hit by a bad storm before we arrived.  But the town was busy cleaning up branches and trees and of course by evening we were ready for some good food.  Lucky for us just down from our hotel was one of the top 10 steakhouses in Mississippi and we stopped in.  I may not go back to Tupelo to see Elvis’s birth home again but I would go back to Woody’s!

Just one night in Tupelo and then on for our longest leg of our trip, to Tallahasse Florida.  We had first thought we would spend 2 nights in the capitol city, but since rain was predicted we decided to make that one night.  After a long day of driving we were very happy with the hotel and were again ready for a cocktail and meal!   Again there was a great place a couple of blocks away.  Ted’s Montana Grill is a franchise started by Ted Turner, specializing in local source and great meats.  They did not disappoint.  They were very busy Sunday night but Chris and I found a place at the bar and started with cocktails.  Since I tell everyone the best steak I have ever had was a Bison ribeye at Eddie Martini in Milwaukee, I could not pass up the Bison filet, and it met my expectations.  Chris also had a great meal so this was certainly a food trip for us. 

So one night in Tallahasse and back to the road, this time to Sanford Florida.  Most important was visiting friends Darren and Sheryl, but we also had in mind some more food.  We had been to a great German restaurant with Darren and Sheryl before and I checked to make sure they were open on Monday nights.  Of course after we arrived in Sanford Darren informed us they were closed that night for a private party!  No problem, we spent a wonderful evening with friends, had good drinks and food, and thoroughly relaxed. 

That made the next day on the road short and sweet.  We took our time in the morning and had an easy ride to Boynton Beach, and then unpacking.  We have been taking some things to Florida that we would want if we someday give up our Oshkosh apartment.  So we had a fair amount to unpack.  The last month we were busy putting things in place to make Florida officially our residence.  We had that idea from the start of the idea but there are a number of things that happen when you change your address to another state.  Chris has spent a lot of time with her favorite subject, insurance.   We have accomplished a lot and today we both got Florida drivers licenses and registered our car.  And we have our health insurance figured out for next year.  So now to start to settle in for winter.  I was lucky enough to get my first round of golf in today and looking forward to the days ahead!